1963 Houston Oilers season

The 1963 Houston Oilers season was the fourth season for the Houston Oilers as a professional American football franchise. Houston had won the first two league championships and were runners-up in 1962, which went to a second overtime. In 1963, the Oilers lost their final four games to finish at 6–8, 1½ games behind the Boston Patriots and Buffalo Bills in the Eastern division. They failed to win the division (and qualify for the title game) for the first time in franchise history.

1963 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Pop Ivy
Head coach	Pop Ivy
Home field	Jeppesen Stadium
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	3rd AFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 7	Oakland Raiders	L 13–24	0–1	Jeppesen Stadium	24,749	Recap
2	September 14	Denver Broncos	W 20–14	1–1	Jeppesen Stadium	22,855	Recap
3	September 22	at New York Jets	L 17–24	1–2	Polo Grounds	9,336	Recap
4	September 28	at Buffalo Bills	W 31–20	2–2	War Memorial Stadium	32,340	Recap
5	October 6	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–28	2–3	Municipal Stadium	27,801	Recap
6	October 13	at Denver Broncos	W 33–24	3–3	Bears Stadium	24,087	Recap
7	October 20	Buffalo Bills	W 28–14	4–3	Jeppesen Stadium	23,948	Recap
8	October 27	Kansas City Chiefs	W 28–7	5–3	Jeppesen Stadium	26,331	Recap
9	November 1	at Boston Patriots	L 3–45	5–4	Fenway Park	31,185	Recap
10	November 10	New York Jets	W 31–27	6–4	Jeppesen Stadium	23,615	Recap
11	November 17	Bye week
	November 24	Scheduled AFL games postponed to December 22
12	December 1	at San Diego Chargers	L 0–27	6–5	Balboa Stadium	31,713	Recap
13	December 8	Boston Patriots	L 28–46	6–6	Jeppesen Stadium	23,462	Recap
14	December 15	San Diego Chargers	L 14–20	6–7	Jeppesen Stadium	18,540	Recap
15	December 22	at Oakland Raiders	L 49–52	6–8	Frank Youell Field	17,401	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Boston Patriots	7	6	1	.538	4–2	327	257	L1
Buffalo Bills	7	6	1	.538	3–3	304	291	W2
Houston Oilers	6	8	0	.429	3–3	302	372	L4
New York Jets	5	8	1	.385	2–4	249	399	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

Season summary

Week 1 vs Raiders

Week One: Oakland Raiders (0–0) at Houston Oilers (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	0	10	14	24
Oilers	6	0	0	7	13

at Jeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas

• Date: September 7
• Game weather: 88 °F (31 °C)
• Game attendance: 24,749
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter HOU – George Blanda 30-yard field goal. Oilers 3–0. HOU – George Blanda 46-yard field goal. Oilers 6–0. Second quarter No scoring Third quarter OAK – Clem Daniels 2-yard run (Mike Mercer kick). Raiders 7–6. OAK – Mike Mercer 11-yard field goal. Raiders 10–6. Fourth quarter OAK – Art Powell 85-yard pass from Tom Flores (Mike Mercer kick). Raiders 17–6. OAK – Ken Herock 15-yard fumble return (Mike Mercer kick). Raiders 24–6. HOU – Charley Hennigan 34-yard pass from Jacky Lee (George Blanda kick). Raiders 24–13. Top passers OAK – Tom Flores – 7/21, 217 yards, TD HOU – Jacky Lee – 10/28, 123 yards, TD, INT Top rushers OAK – Clem Daniels – 16 rushes, 73 yards, TD HOU – Charley Tolar – 9 rushes, 44 yards Top receivers OAK – Art Powell – 7 receptions, 181 yards, TD HOU – Charley Hennigan – 7 receptions, 101 yards, TD